The Survey of Western Palestine (1871-1877)

This comprehensive work was the first detailed survey of the area that used to be known as Western Palestine, originally published by the Palestine Exploration Fund between 1881-1888. The whole country west of the Jordan from Tyre in the north to Beersheba in the south was submitted to the surveyors´ scrutiny - every town, village, saint´s tomb, sacred tree, and heap of stones was meticulously recorded. Ruined cities, buildings, tombs, and interesting sites were all excavated, drawn, or photographed: place names, geological and natural history specimens, as well as antiquities, were collected, and casts of inscriptions were made. The surveyed area includes modern day Israel and the Palestinian Territories, the southernmost part of Lebanon and Jordan as far as the River Jordan. The Islamic archaeology of Jerusalem and the countryside is also meticulously surveyed.

The authors of the Survey were Lieutenants Claude Reignier Conder and Horatio Herbert Kitchener, both officers in the Royal Engineers. The volumes dealing with geology and the fauna and flora were written by specialists in those fields. The volume on the excavations at Jerusalem was written by Lt. C. Warren and Lt. Conder.

The Survey covered 6000 square miles and includes a set of 26 highly detailed maps and 50 plates supplemented by nine volumes of extensive writings on all aspects of Palestine: Memoirs on the topography, orography, hydrography and archaeology of Galilee, Samaria and Judea (one volume each); Special Papers on topography, archaeology, manners and customs; Jerusalem; Fauna and Flora; Geology; also Arabic and English Name Lists and a complete General Index. The Survey was intended to include at a later date Eastern, Southern and Northern Palestine. In fact only one volume on the Survey of Eastern Palestine (1881-1882) was published, covering part of modern Jordan, and has been included here.